In short: Great race!In full: Loved starting & finishing in the Hoe... Though there is a bottleneck at the first corner, the run up through Saltram is amazing (but hard going). Overall a fab run and nicely organised. Would probably preferred a tshirt over radox and cant wait to do it again next year.Date of review: June 4, 2012

In short: new route make race betterIn full: new route again this year meant it was better. this was spoilt by the strong wind in miles 8-10! well marshalled, good signage (apart from 1st mile marker in wrong place...about 0.13 mile from correct place), expensive to enter and no race t-shirt, unless u wanted to buy it. overall, a decent race.Date of review: June 3, 2012

In short: Second time and will do it again and againIn full: I have done this race twice now and the change in route this year definitely made it harder. The atmosphere is good and I really enjoyed the race, despite illness on my part. Brilliant day. Date of review: June 3, 2012

In short: Slick organising, a good route and a nice medal.In full: Compared to some other races this was well organised with baggage area close to start/finish, well staffed by polite cadets. Race started on the picturesque Hoe on time and a nice route - definitely undulating! Good finish straight onto promenade rather than final loop of previous years. Nice medal and goody bag, no issue with not having a cheap cotton t shirt that lives in a wardrobe as prefer to purchase nice running tech tees, nor not being given loads of seeds and leaflets. Entry fee about right and well supported despite inclement weather. Cardiff (start time) and Bath (entry fee) take note, and Manchester marathon (all around organisation).

Only criticism is most of the on route water was given in cups which were useless, no excuse for not having bottles or squidgy pouches. Date of review: June 3, 2012

In short: A bit hilly!In full: This year is not a patch on previous years! The course has been changed which although flat in places takes the race away from potential crowd support. That said I was grateful of the improved finish which didn't involve the looping run past the finish line. Having always been proud of my home town half with it's excellent support amazing goody bag and well organised finish area with food and drink, this year I feel robbed! Someone has made a big profit and cheapened the whole event. Not sure I'll be back.Date of review: June 3, 2012

In short: I've been attending this one for 5 years now and over the past 2 years they've tinkered with the course somewhat. Bottom line for this year, a slightly better course with a faster finish but a higher entry fee .In full: My overall impression of this year's race was the distinct smell of doing it 'on the cheap' with a higher race entry fee, and possibly the worst goody bag that Plymouth has produced thus far (more of that in a bit....). The course has been tinkered with slightly with a new switchback to take advantage of the new road layout, making for a better run with more things to look at to take your mind off of the gradient(slowly rising for the most part), and also a faster finish, however at the start point, as soon as you run down off of the Hoe area there was an immediate bottleneck of runners having to slow down again to a walk to let numbers down the road-all within 500 yards of the start point. Water stops also took a bit of a hit this year with cups instead of bottles being used for the first time (again-cheaper),resulting in runners having to have a mad sip of their cup before being forced to throw it . There was however a bottle stop around the six mile mark. The new race organisers say this is to reduce the 'trip hazard' that bottles pose but I've not met anyone who's raced this event and fallen over a plastic bottle..... Also advertised was an 'energy drink' stop , but I seemed to miss that one (as did my other half who was actually looking for it....), so maybe a bigger sign please? Weather was good for this event with just enough drizzle to keep runners cool without being cold. Cheer points and race marshals did sterling work of boosting runners morale (especially for the 'newbies' on course) with plenty of obligatory jelly babies and jelly beans being freely handed out-big thanks for those. The atmosphere for the course is brilliant, with support from spectators and fellow racers alike. Last mile is a push back through the Historic Barbican with a couple of first timers being caught out by flooring it through the flat cobbled area, only to find that the last 5-600 yards is an uphill slog to the Promenade on Plymouth Hoe and finish point. Finish/filter point was well managed but this is the first time that race organisers seem to have scrimped on goody bags. No t-shirt this year and less swag to haul away than previous years (although the race organisers were quick to tout t shirt sales at the finish point- money making again?). To put this in perspective, swag this year was finishers medal (cool!), a small flapjack (cheap/unbranded), small mars bar, a clipper t-bag (???), 7 jelly beans (courtesy of Virgin Active), 3 Zero Highs drink tablets, 330ml of Red Bull and a bottle of Radox bath liquid (I don't have a bath but an elderly auntie will be getting a freebie I suppose!!), oh and a very small banana-well done . However last year's haul included a finishers shirt, various seeds for putting over cereals, pasties/pies, Go! energy drinks, bananas, chocolate brownies, tea/coffee facilities,Go! energy bars and gels, satsuma oranges, a small bottle of shower gel, some moisturiser for hands and face-all in all a bag of goodies to make you feel just that little bit better about torturing yourself for 13.2 miles. This year, I just felt a little cheated especially as the race fee has also risen(£30 if you don't register early) -please change it back!!! This is ironic as at the finish line both Torbay Athletic club and Instinctive Sports were handing out entry forms for their half marathon and 10k races respectively- which promise technical shirts, medals and goody bags, with a cheaper race entry fee!! All in all, a good day marred slightly by profiteering and scrimping I guess. I'd also like to give a big thank you to all fellow runners, the race marshals, various cadet organisations who provided manpower for the water stops, the emergency services who provided first rate medical cover and finally the Council for road management and the refuse removal of all those pesky cups!!Date of review: June 3, 2012

In short: Challenging but great runIn full: Second time I've done this run, and still just as exhilirating. They've tweaked the start, making it much faster. The hills throughout are still challenging, but make for good stories when you compar ehow many people you walked past, or how many of the local residents offered you jelly babies!

Although somewhat hilly, it wasn't too far off my PB so I'm sure it can be done! Would definitely do this run again, and the t-shirt and medal certainly help add to the feeling of euphoria at having completed it!Date of review: November 6, 2011

In short: Great raceIn full: This was my first ever half marathon and I found the whole experience very enjoyable. There was a bit of confusion at the start but that was probably down to the sheer number of competitors milling around the start point. The route itself was fairly scenic and took in equal measures of urban and country areas. The goody bag I recieved at the finish was a nice suprise too, as it contained some nice extras, and the medal was nice too. Hopefully the first of many 1/2 marathons for me!Date of review: August 8, 2011